2018 - My Top 5 Family History Discoveries

Photo taken at Mt. Hope Cemetery in Toronto, final resting place of Timothy Moynahan (1861-1941)

52 Ancestors: Week 1: Start

This blog began in 2014 and I owe a great deal of gratitude for the inspiration behind many of my posts to Amy Crow's 2014 blogging challenge that she called "52 Ancestors"

I am so delighted to learn that Amy Crow has recently decided to run "52 Ancestors" again in 2018 (after a brief two-year hiatus that she announced at the end of 2015. )

The theme for Week 1 of "52 Ancestors 2018" is "START" and I thought I would reflect on the many benefits that I have received by participating in  Amy's 2014 and 2015 challenges and hopefully encourage other genealogists to START the 2018 challenge with me.

 My Top Ten Benefits of Participating in 
Amy Crow's 
52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks

In the process of blogging "52 Ancestors 2014" and then "52 Ancestors 2015", I discovered many things about my research. Here are my "Top Ten Benefits of Participating in Amy Crow's 52 Ancestors"

1. You can Share Your Family History With Descendants: Each blog post made it easy to share my genealogical research with living descendants. I would later get emails of thanks from relatives writing "I never knew that". Like when:
• I posted the detailed story of how Timothy Moynahan (1813-1902) left County Kerry Ireland, living in Pennsylvania for three years before landing and living the rest of his life in Essex County, Ontario (1828-1902)
2. You Can Share Your Posts in Your Genealogical Groups: Whenever I wrote a "52 Ancestor" post and discovered something that I had never known before, if I thought my Genealogical Societies or other Societies that I belong to could benefit, I would share the post with them. Like:
• When I shared my post about my My Grandparent's Funeral Cards with the Ontario Genealogical Society (Essex Co. branch)
• And the Essex OGS contacted me once about a fun little blog post and sketch I did called "Ancestor Problems"
• When I shared my Wallaceburg Schools (in the early 1900s) post with the Ontario Genealogical Society (Kent Co. Branch)
• When I shared my post about the challenges of  The Irish Brogue and French Priests in Detroit and Windsor with the Detroit Genealogical Society
• When I shared with the Facebook Group for genealogists who have 18th & 19th century American glassblowers in their trees the blog post about my great grandfather William Henry Coughlin (1872-1952) was a glassblower in Poughkeepsie N.Y. and Wallaceburg, Ontario..
3. You Can Share Your Posts And Relatives Might Find You: By sharing my 52 Ancestors blog posts on social media (twitter, Facebook) relatives found me! Like the time:
• I posted a story about my Moynahan ancestors of Kent County, Ontario and ancestors and a distant cousin (who I never knew until then) Caitlyn Cline who had insomnia and chanced upon my site and left a comment! We have bee sharing ancestor information ever since.
• I posted a story about  the 1952 tragedy on the Chapleau River and the descendants of these Chapleau Donivans thanked me saying that they always wanted to know what really happened to their family.
• I posted about Leo Broderick (1919-1943) who died in WWII and is buried in Germany where he was shot down and Leo's cousin Maggie Pearson discovered my posts. I send updates to her still.
• Alec Briggs contacted me about the same Leo Broderick (1919-1943) blog post because he is the son of Wireless Operator James Henry Briggs, who flew on HR810 LQ-X 405 Sqdn with my Second Cousin LJM Broderick. Alec has visited the gravesite of my second cousin LJM Broderick and left white roses. We still keep in touch.
4. You Will Examine The Evidence Closer: Like the time:
• I had a photograph of the 1916 Holy Name Society (Wallaceburg, Ontario) and I knew that my grandfather must be on there somewhere but I could not find him so I blogged about it. Then, as I was storing the photograph back in the box, I spotted it. A mark on the reverse side: http://moynahangenealogy.blogspot.ca/2014/05/52-ancestors-20-update.html
5. Your DNA Matches Will Love It! I am really new to the DNA world and I am managing my father's DNA matches. Whenever I connect with a DNA match, I locate the "52 Ancestor" blog posts and share it. I have even been contacted by a reader of a particular blog post to see if I have DNA results to share!
   
   • My blog post about the Tilbury Moynahans has been shared with our Tilbury Moynahan DNA matches http://moynahangenealogy.blogspot.ca/2017/09/our-ancestry-dna-results-are-in.html
   • Genealogists who have done their DNA have contacted me through one of my "52 Ancestors" blog posts about my Moreland roots from Scotland to find out if we can share DNA results
6. You Will Find Gaps In Your Research: This is the most helpful of all. In having to explain your findings in a blog post, you will likely find some gaps in it as well. 
• How many times have I sat down to write a blog post and realized that I do NOT have the census for a particular year, or a cemetery location, etc. "52 Ancestors" is an opportunity to review what you have and then go through the genealogy checklist to see if anything is missing https://legacyfamilytree.net/checklist.pdf
7. You Will Find Some Of your Research Mistakes: I have found PLENTY of these when I sat down to write out the blog post like:
   
• When I posted a bunch of folio snaps that I thought were about My Great Grandparents 1949 Golden Anniversary and when I sent out my 52 Ancestor blog post, my cousins said that can't be right! Together, we all figured it out eventually http://moynahangenealogy.blogspot.ca/2015/11/52-ancestors-no-42-coughlin-anniversary.html
8. You Can Have Fun Posting on Topics Beyond BMD: The blogging prompts encourage you to go well beyond JUST finding dates for Birth, Marriage and Death (BMD) like when:
• I posted about my grandmother Rhea (Coughlin) Moynahan (1902-1992) and her love for ice-boating on Lake St. Clair
• I posted about ancestors who operated a Feather Renovators business in 1906 in Wallaceburg, Ontario. Lisa (at Smallest Leaf) was just as surpised as me that this was an occupation!
9. The "52 Ancestors" Blogger Community Is GREAT! Genealogists are a great group of folks. We connect at conferences and we connect online. Through "52 Ancestors, we can connect through our story telling. Like when:
   • I posted about A Favourite Photo: My Grandparent's 1929 Wedding and I loved all the comments that I received from the "52 Ancestors Community"
   • Amy Crow has even visited my blog and left a comment - the ultimate compliment to a blogger - I was thanking her for the "52 Ancestors" challenge.
10. It Could Be A Foundation For A Family History Book ! My brother has printed every genealogy blog post that I have ever written. It takes up two large white binders and he brings those binders to all of our family reunions to share with all of our cousins. "52 Ancestors" can help you think about ways of writing your family history story for others to enjoy. Good practice for that Family History Book you've been meaning to write.

Join Amy Crow's 2018 "52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks" Challenge

I hope that I have given you some good reasons to sign up and START the 2018 "52 Ancestors" challenge with me and many others!

If you would like to START and join Amy in the 2018 "52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks" (did I mention that it's FREE by the way!) and receive the email prompts, click HERE: https://www.amyjohnsoncrow.com/52-ancestors-in-52-weeks/ 

If you want to read what others are blogging about over the next 52 weeks, look for hashtag #52Ancestors on social media

My 52 Ancestors Blog Posts From 2014-2015

This is a summary of my 2014 #52Ancestors blog posts:

1. BRODERICK: Sarah "Daisy" Broderick
2. ANNAL: Family Photograph Mysteries
3. MOYNAHAN: John Moynahan: First Clerk Township of Sandwich South 
4. COUGHLIN: Glassblowers in the 1800s
5. MOYNAHAN: Timothy Moynahan: When Windsor Was A Wilderness
6. MOYNAHAN: Timothy Moynahan: The Voyage from the Old Sod
7. MOYNAHAN: Timothy Moynahan: 1829 - Days of the Old Horse Boats
8. MOYNAHAN: Timothy Moynahan: The Shillelaugh Guards
9. MOYNAHAN: Timothy Moynahan: Timothy Moynahan's kin?
10. MOYNAHAN: Nellie  Moynahan: School teachers in the 1800s
11. CREIGHTON - COUGHLIN - MOYNAHAN : Quilts and Crochet
12. MOYNAHAN - DEMARSE - BRODERICK - LENNON: Priests and Nuns
13. MOYNAHAN - LENNON: Departures
14. COUGHLIN: Wallaceburg Schools
15. MOYNAHAN: The Next Generation - We Are Family
16. MOYNAHAN: Family Places & Homes in Mimico
17. FOREMAN: Joseph Foreman (1933-1999): Track Star and Olympian
18. CREIGHTONS: Halifax, Nova Scotia Roots
19. MOYNAHAN: Talbot Settlers
20. COUGHLIN: Holy Name of Mary Society, Wallaceburg, Ontario; and Updated post
21. MOYNAHAN: Catherine Moynahan: "Unsound Mind" in the 1800s
22. MOYNAHAN: Timothy Moynahan: Meningitis and Lunatic Asylums
23. MOYNAHAN: Matthew Moynahan: 1770-1860
24. MOYNAHAN: Enos and James Moynahan
25. MOYNAHAN: Thomas Moynahan - 1861 Mail Carrier
26. MOYNAHAN: John Moynahan - Labour Leader
27. MOYNAHAN: Kent County Moynahans - Matthew, Timothy and Patrick
28. BRODERICK: Detective Leo William Broderick
29. MOYNAHAN: Detroit Postal Clerk M.J. Moynahan ~ Mt. Elliott Zinc Marker
30. COUGHLIN: Rhea Coughlin & Parke Davis
31. MORELAND: John Moreland: From Workhouse to War
32. BRODERICK: RCAF: Leo Joseph Martin Broderick (1919-1943)
33. ANNAL: Orkney Sailor James Annal (1849-1930)
34. HUSSEY: Mary (Hussey) Broderick (1842-1913)
35. O'CONNOR: The O'Connor Sisters
36. ANNAL: Fire Chief and Ice Dealer James Annal 
37. MOYNAHAN: William Moynahan's Amputation
38. BRENNAN: Mary Brennan: Maidstone midwife
39. DUFFY-COUGHLIN: Poughkeepsie Brick Wall
40. BRODERICK: My GG Mary (Broderick) Moynahan
41. COUGHLIN:  Coughlin Golden Anniversary 1949
42. COUGHLIN: Trick or Treating
43. COUGHLIN: The Photographic Camera and a Photograph Album
44. COUGHLIN: Ice Boating in Windsor, Ontario
45. CURD: The Curds of Dover, England
46. CREIGHTON-MORELAND: Beloved Matriarch Dorothy
47. CREIGHTON: Frederick Douglas Creighton (1907-1976)
48. MOYNAHAN: Autoworker Ernest Joseph Sr.
49. DONIVAN: The Chapleau Donivans
50. PLAUS: John J. Plaus (1912-1966)
51. FOREMAN: Donald Jennings Foreman
52. CREIGHTON: My Mother Dawn

This is a summary of my 2015 #52Ancestors blog posts:

1. HEGNA: Hannah (Hegna) Foreman (1885-1965)
2. HEGNA: Ole and Emma (HANSON) emigration (Norway to America)
3. CONLON: Thomas and Elizabeth (GREER) Conlon
4. FOREMAN: William H. and Frederick Dixon Foreman Alberta Homestead Records
5. MOYNAHAN: Maidstone Auctioneer William Moynahan (1878-1950)
6. MOYNAHAN: The Sad and Sudden Death of Patrick Moynahan (1853-1909)
7. BRODERICK: My Oral History Interview with Bernard Broderick
8. BRODERICK: Christian Brother: Bernard Broderick
9. ANNAL: Great Grandmother Elizabeth's Brother John  Annal
10. MOYNAHAN: James Moynahan (1842-1919) Civil War Soldier & Colorado Miner
11. HESS - ANNAL: Hess & Annal : Feather Renovators (1906)
12. COUGHLIN: The Naturalization Papers of William Henry Coughlin 
13. MOYNAHAN: Rev. Ray Moynahan (1904-1980)
14. MOYNAHAN - COUGHLIN: Favourite Photo: My Grandparent's 1929 Wedding
15. DEMARSE - COUGHLIN: Sister Madeline Demarse (G.S.I.C) (1928-2010)
16. LENNON: The Lennon Sisters
17. BRODERICK: The Broderick "Crayon Portraits"
18. MOYNAHAN: Matthew Moynahan's Last Will (1770-1860)
19. DONIVAN: A Donivan Tragedy on the Chapleau River 1952
20. SCHOFIELD-COUGHLIN: Arthur and Margaret Schofield
21. LANGLOIS: Brokenhearted Three Months After Wedding
22. COUGHLIN: The Art of Colorizing Photos
23. MOYNAHAN-McHUGH: The Wedding Photos
24. ESSEX Co.: Grandparent's Funeral Cards (Various surnames)
25. ESSEX Co.: My Mystery "Homestead Veranda" Photograph (Unknown)
26. SULLIVAN-MOYNAHAN: Halfway: Is Johanna A Missing Moynahan Daughter? 
27. MOYNAHAN: Ottawa Photographs of Moynahan Kin?
28. MOYNAHAN:  The Irish Brogue and French Priests
29. MOYNAHAN: Mary (Moynahan) Moynahan of Corktown, Detroit 
30. MOYNAHAN: Grand Army Department Commander James Moynahan 1917
31. ANNAL - HESS : Meeting Distant Cousins from the Annal-Hess Clan
32. VARIOUS SURNAMES: 32 Great Grand Parents
33. LANDERS: The Landers Brothers (Part I)
34. BRODERICK: Brother Berchmans F.S.C. - A "True Son of De La Salle"
35. BRODERICK: Still Searching for WW II PoW Stories
36. VARIOUS SURNAMES: Working For A Living
37. LEFAIVE: The Lefaives of Detroit
38. BRODERICK: WWII Service Files of Canadian War Dead Available 
39. COUGHLIN: The Coughlin's 1940s Sing-Along! Part 1
40. BRODERICK: October 100 Years Ago Martin Broderick Died
41. BRODERICK-CASEY: Nurse Agnes Broderick 
42. COUGHLIN-ANNAL: Coughlin Anniversary Folio Pak Snaps
43. COUGHLIN: The Coughlin's 1940s Sing-Along! Part 2
44. DEMARSE:  Madeline (Coughlin) Demarse (1900-1929)
45. MORKIN:  Mabel (Moynahan) Morkin (1902-1945)
46. CREIGHTON: Creighton Wedding Photos
47. BOYLE: My Grand Aunt Mary Aileen (Moynahan) Boyle
48. BONDY - MOYNAHAN: The Moynahan-Bondy Family of Detroit
49. BRODERICK: Last Will and Testament of Martin Broderick (1831-1915)
50. BRODERICK: Martin Broderick's Fenian Medal
51. BRODERICK-MURRAY: The Broderick-Murray Wedding
52. BRODERICK-KNAPP: The Broderick-Knapp Photographs

This is a summary of my 2015 (Optional) Themes:

• FOREMAN: Week1 - Fresh Start
• ESSEX TEACHERS: Week 8 -  Good Deeds

Thanks Amy Crow for 31 Days of Genealogy

Jeremiah and Mary (Brennan) Moynahan (based on of photograph circa 1922)
Mixed media sketch on monoprint by Cindi Moynahan-Foreman

It's Day 31 of Amy Crow's "31 Days of Genealogy" and I am incredibly grateful that Amy's emails have appeared every day for last thirty-one days in my inbox! And for FREE!!

Amy Johnson Crow is a Certified Genealogist with more than 20 years of experience helping people discover their family's history. She is also the creator of the #52Ancestors challenge which has, for the past two years, taken me to new levels with my genealogical research, led me to new relatives and made me dig deeper into my own family history. Amy has inspired so may of us to do more research, better research and tell our family stories!

Before Amy sends her final email to my inbox tomorrow, I wanted to thank her and Amy has assigned her readers a final task:

"Pick one of your favorite ancestors. Get out all of your notes about that person. Sit down and write at least 3 paragraphs about that person. (I'm not even asking for a full page!) I bet you'll see that this exercise not only ties everything together, but sparks your imagination for more research."

I had just finished the mixed media sketch (above) of my great great grandparents Jeremiah and Mary (Brennan) Moynahan just hours before I received Amy's email. Recognizing the synchronicity of those two things I chose to write about my second great grandparents Jeremiah and Mary Moynahan.

I feel a connection to these two ancestors that I can't explain. I loved hearing the stories about them that have been passed through the years.

With thanks to Amy Crow, here are a few paragraphs on Jeremiah and Mary (Brennan) Moynahan.

At the beginning of my genealogy journey back in the early 1980s, the first time that I saw the image below of Jeremiah and Mary with my great grandfather John Moynahan, I cannot even describe how I felt. Their eyes. The way they were dressed. Imagining their lives. The photo inspired me to dig even deeper into the archives.

Jeremiah (1841-1922) and Mary (Brennan) (1841-1926)Moynahan with Ellen ("Nellie") (1865-1940)
and son John (seated) (1866-1933)

The picture above would have been taken in the late 1860's. Jeremiah and Mary would have been in their late twenties and just starting what would become a family that would include nine children (Mary would be pregnant into her forties, the last baby born Maud Agnes (Moynahan) Flannery in 1884.)

298 North Talbot Rd., Maidstone, Ontario

After their marriage in 1863, Jeremiah and Mary lived at 298 South Talbot Road in Maidstone (Township of Sandwich East in 1867) until 1922. Pictured above on google maps, it remains farmland to this very day.

Mary's mother and father, John and Catherine Brennan, lived in Sandwich East 1871. (Source: Year: 1871; Census Place: Sandwich East, Essex, Ontario; Roll: C-9889; Page: 24; Family No: 79 )

Mary was born in Ireland in 1841. In 1853, when Mary was twelve years old, she came with her parents John Brennan (1819-1881) and Catherine (Bowler) Brennan (1819 -1891) to Canada and the family settled in Sandwich South.

The Upper Canada Rebellion

Jeremiah was born on his parent's Denis and Catherine (Roach) Moynahan's farm at 6 South Middle Road, Maidstone on March 22, 1837, in Maidstone Ontario," in the year of the Rebellion of Upper Canada" (Source: The Border Cities Star - Jun 21, 1922 ) .

6 South Middle Rd., Maidstone, Ontario

Jeremiah's parents, Denis and Catherine, were born in County Kerry Ireland and migrated to Canada in the early 1830s (They were married at Ste Anne's Church Detroit in 1833).

A Chronology:

• In 1865, daughter Nellie Moynahan was born
• In 1866, son John Moynahan was born
• In 1871, daughter Margaret May (Moynahan) Lauzon was born (she moved to Detroit after marriage)
• In 1871 Jeremiah's mother Catherine (Roach) Moynahan died. I haven't located her death records or burial place. She was sent to an asylum (being of "unsound mind" on the 1871 census)
• In 1873, daughter Mary (Moynahan) Russette was born
• In 1875, daughter Kate (Moynahan) Lennon was born
• In 1877, daughter Ann (Moynahan)  Jobin was born
• In 1879, son James Joseph Moynahan was born  (after marriage, he moved to Detroit)
• On 1881, Mary's father John Brennan died and he is buried in St. Mary's cemetery in Maidstone
• In 1882, daughter Clara (Moynahan) Broderick
• In 1884, daughter Maud Agnes (Moynahan) Flannery was born
• In 1885, Jeremiah's father Denis died in Detroit and is buried in the Mt Elliott cemetery
• In 1891, Mary's mother Catherine (Bowler) Brennan died and she is buried in St. Mary's cemetery in Maidstone

When Jeremiah died in 1922, he had "lived 84 years within five miles of the place where he is born (on the Middle Road)" (Source: Essex Free Press June 23, 1922, Page 1 of 8)

In 1913, Jeremiah and Mary celebrated their golden wedding anniversary by holding a family reunion where the family attended mass then had a party on their Maidstone farm. "The old couple were the recipients of many appropriate presents and congratulations on this occasion" (Source: The Essex Free Press: November 21, 1913, Page 1 of 8)

In June 1922, Jeremiah and Mary "decided to spend a few weeks with their daughters in the country. Mrs. Moynahan going to Mrs. Flannery's in Colchester North and Mr Moynahan to Mrs. Alex Jobin's Con. 9, Sandwich South. It was at Mrs Jobin's that his passing away took place on Tuesday night. Deceased was about as usual during the day and did not complain of any ailment and retired at 8 o'clock that night. About 10, when Mr and Mrs Jobin retired, they looked into his room and were surprised that he slept away without making a struggle. Death was due to heart disease." (Source: Essex Free Press June 23, 1922, Page 1 of 8)

In June 1926, Mary passed away at 432 Hall Ave., Windsor Ontario the home of her daughter, retired school teacher Nellie Moynahan. (Source Essex Free Press June 25, 1926)

There is still so much more to learn about the lives of my ancestors. Thanks to Amy Crow, I have learned a great deal so far.

• 52 Ancestors #3 John Moynahan
• 52 Ancestors #10: "Nellie" Moynahan: Teacher
• 52 Ancestors #38: Mary Brennan: Maidstone Midwife
• Moynahan-Brennan

Sources:

• Marriage: Ancestry.com. Ontario, Canada, Catholic Church Records (Drouin Collection), 1747-1967 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2007. Original data: Gabriel Drouin, comp. Drouin Collection. Montreal, Quebec, Canada: Institut Généalogique Drouin.
• Residence 1867: Essex County Directory and Gazetteer, 1866-1867; Ancestry.com. Canada, City and Area Directories, 1819-1906 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2013.
• BMD Jeremiah Moynahan: Birth; Marriage; Death: Archives of Ontario; Series: MS935; Reel: 288

http://geneofun.on.ca/names/photo/1339353

2015 Version of 52 Ancestors - Here We Go Again

I am so grateful for Amy Crow and the 52 Ancestors challenge that I did in 2014 (only two more posts to go to complete all 52).

The good news is that Amy Crow has decided to continue the challenge for 2015! See: Announcing 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks: 2015 Edition Amy has added some optional themes (that will be posted the 15th of every month).

The 52 Ancestor challenge has challenged me to look more closely at individual ancestors and in the process I have learned new things and have been blessed with meeting more family members that I had never known about but who found me through my blog posts.

It's been great fun! Great learning and I am looking forward to what 2015 will bring!

Thanks Amy! And thanks to all the wonderful #52Ancestor contributors, bloggers and tweeters who offered their encouragement and support!